As for the reality of a proposed attack one question is: Would Israeli resort to tactical nuclear weapons if driven to extremity? If so, it would be the first nuclear war in the Middle East and the first of this century anywhere.In fact, the moment for Israel to make this decision would come if the first wave of its bombers, ballistic surface-to-surface and cruise missiles failed to penetrate the deep subterranean structures and tunnels housing Iran’s most secret nuclear projects - and the entire operation fell apart.
Iran is likely to respond to a conventional Israeli attack with a barrage of ballistic missiles against the Jewish state and by unleashing its three neighbors, Syria, the Lebanese Hizballah and the Palestinian Hamas and Jihad Islami from Gaza. Their working hypothesis is that Tehran would not retaliate against American Middle East targets or the Gulf emirates.
The worst case scenario if Israel where face the dilemma of abandoning the operation altogether-- or proceeds with the help of tactical nuclear weapons?
Should Israel succeed in demolishing Iran’s most secret installations, Tehran’s fury might rage farther a field and trigger attacks on Persian Gulf oil installations as well as the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It is rumoured that Washington soon will send the USS Ronald Reagan Strike Group to sail from Hong Kong to the Persian Gulf-- joining the USS Abraham Lincoln Strike Group already deployed in the Persian Gulf.